Tracee Ellis Ross Talks Diversity, Diana Ross, And TMurda

What’s there not to like about Tracee Ellis Ross? The Black-ish actress is funny, talented, and incredibly cool and a recent interview made us fall in love with her a little bit more.

Ross spoke to Vulture about everything from public schools to alter egos, of which she has several. You might be familiar with TMurda, but have you met CaLiope Champignon, “an opinionated French fashion blogger who claims to have ‘created’ Barneys New York.”

The actress also airs her frustration with diversity in Hollywood.

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“I still am confused why we have to consider things black shows or not black shows,” she said, later adding, “I grew up in such a mixed world, I was having dinner with all my girlfriends the other night, and my friend Monica was like: We’re like the fucking United Colors of Benetton: Korean, Chinese and Italian, Trinidadian, Polish, Ethiopian. And that’s just at one table. That’s what my world looks like all the time, without effort. We can be all these things and be ourselves.”

The Girlfriends star even talks about her parents, Diana Ross and Robert Ellis Silberstein. It seems that Ross gets some of her humor and charm from her father. She describes him as “brilliantly funny,” saying, “He’s very personable and charming. I get my sense of humor from my dad.” As for a glimpse into what Tracee was like as a child, the interviewer recalls a video of Ross and her siblings on Entertainment Tonight, where Tracee takes charge, telling the interviewer, “Our mom is a mom before she’s anything else.”

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